Floyd Haare is seen here celebrating 2022's open shearing title win at the Tapawera Shears. He won again on Saturday. Photo / Supplied
Floyd Haare is seen here celebrating 2022's open shearing title win at the Tapawera Shears. He won again on Saturday. Photo / Supplied
Former Southland shearer Floyd Haare successfully defended the Tapawera Shears open shearing title when the annual competition was held south of Nelson on Saturday.
Haare, 35, now based at Bainham, near Collingwood, dominated the four-man final, shearing the 20 sheep in 19min 24.22sec.
He trounced second-man-off and eventual runner-up Nick Nalder, of Takaka, by more than two sheep - a buffer of almost 9pts on time.
Veteran Blenheim competitor Chris Jones came in third, more than two minutes behind Nalder.
Jones, who at the age of almost 65 has competed at all three top-of-the-south shows so far this season, won the open plate at Tapawera last year, and also finished third at the Marlborough show in October.
There were nine shearers in the open class at Tapawera, among 19 shearers across the four classes.
Lydia Thomson won both the women’s event and junior final, and also finished third in the Clean Shear behind Jones and senior final winner Timo Hicks, of Tapawera.
Notably, Thomson has now shorn in 10 finals this season, resulting in seven wins. These include two national title wins, at the Corriedales Championships in Christchurch and the New Zealand Crossbred Lamb Championships at Winton.
She was also runner-up in two other national title events, on the longwool of the Waimate Spring Shears and the full wool of the Northern Southland Community Shears near Lumsden.
She is heading for the intermediate grade next season and recently shore 200 ewes in a day at work for the first time.
A seventh winning ribbon in 10 finals in 2022-2023 for Rangiora shearer Lydia Thomson. Photo / SSNZ
The intermediate final was won by Dylan Hamlin of Bainham.
Despite the smaller number of entries, Lyn Baigent, who does the points at all the shows in the region, said it was a good day - “but hot.”
The next event in the wider top-of-the-south region is the West Coast’s only competition, at Reefton next Saturday, followed by the Murchison A and P Show on February 18.
Results of the Tapawera Sports Shears at Tapawera, Tasman, on Saturday, January 28, 2023
Open final (20 sheep): Floyd Haare (Bainham) 19min 24.22sec, 67.26pts, 1; Nick Nalder (Takaka) 22min 17.22sec, 78.66pts, 2; Chris Jones (Blenheim) 24min 25.31sec, 80.57pts, 3; Thomas Lambert (Christchurch) 25min 16.75sec, 89.79pts, 4.
Open Plate (10 sheep): Robert Herbert (Kaikoura) 13min 8.16sec, 50.51pts, 1; Roger Simpson (Tapawera) 13min 16.06sec, 51.8pts, 2; Kerry Irvine (Tapawera) 15min 2.63sec, 55.83pts, 3; Enkhnasan Chuluunbaatar (Mongolia/Takaka) 14min 6.32sec, 56.72pts, 4.
Senior final (10 sheep): Timo Hicks (Tapawera) 13min 14.88sec, 49.44pts, 1; Hamish Barker (Tapawera) 13min 38.21sec, 58.51pts, 2.
